


Teach Me How to Say Goodbye

by Poetry



Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate, Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Canon Temporary Character Death, Crossover, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Multimedia, Song Lyrics, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-07
Updated: 2016-02-07
Packaged: 2018-05-18 18:08:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5937994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poetry/pseuds/Poetry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>WASHINGTON:<br/>Soldiers, it’s gonna be a grim dark Christmas.<br/>But the Hessians are partying and we ain’t gonna miss this<br/>Chance to be messin’ with these German guns for hire,<br/>‘Cause after the defeats we’ve had I need my men inspired.<br/>We’ll cross the Delaware at night and prepare the attack –</p><p>MARCO (aside, to JAKE):<br/>Is that George Washington? Why is he black?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Teach Me How to Say Goodbye

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is set between “Right Hand Man” and “A Winter’s Ball” in _Hamilton_ , and in place of chapters 17 - 22 of _Megamorphs 3: Elfangor’s Secret_ in _Animorphs_.
> 
> Thanks to @cyanoticfallacy for looking over this. You can listen along to my recording of Tobias's song at the end right [here](https://www.mediafire.com/?zy11dbegnhrxslv).

( _JAKE appears, in horse morph, amid a group of raggedy soldiers. They’re standing by the river, it’s dark, and it’s the middle of a snowstorm. MARCO is already there, wearing his morphing suit and a set of good boots._ ) 

 

WASHINGTON: 

Soldiers, it’s gonna be a grim dark Christmas. 

But the Hessians are partying and we ain’t gonna miss this 

Chance to be messin’ with these German guns for hire, 

‘Cause after the defeats we’ve had I need my men inspired. 

We’ll cross the Delaware at night and prepare the attack – 

 

MARCO ( _aside, to JAKE_ ): 

Is that George Washington? Why is he black? 

 

JAKE ( _to MARCO, in thought-speak_ ): 

Where’d you get those boots? 

 

MARCO: 

I stole them from Washington? 

 

JAKE: 

Oh my _God_ , dude! 

 

RACHEL ( _from above, in owl morph_ ): 

Jake, Marco, there’s something going on 

in the dark out here; people singing songs, 

not like they’re drunk, though they’ve got booze and all – 

what I’m tryin’ to say is, I think we’re in a musical! 

 

JAKE: 

Musical or not, we need Tobias, Cassie, Ax, 

Washington is here, and he’s calling the attack. 

 

MARCO: 

I’m a little more concerned with why _Washington is black_. 

 

JAKE: 

What we really need to do is to find Visser Four. 

 

RACHEL: 

I guess we’ll have to find him if he’s written in this score. 

 

JAKE: 

Washington’s his target, so be at his defense. 

 

LAURENS ( _straggling toward the riverbank, HAMILTON leaning on him_ ): 

Hamilton, you got your honor, but I wish you had sense. 

You’re hot-headed, feverish – won’t you let me carry you? 

 

HAMILTON: 

Like a bride across the threshold? I’m not about to marry you! 

 

MARCO ( _to JAKE_ ): 

Seriously, Jake, do you know what this place is? 

‘Cause I learned in school that this era’s really racist! 

I blend right in – and suddenly you’re rapping! 

What kind of timeline did the Visser take a crap in? 

 

RACHEL: 

Oh, Cassie! It’s you! Morph dolphin, start swimming! 

Hey, I think some of these soldiers are women. 

Anyway, Washington’s the one the Visser’s after. 

And if you hear Jake rap? Try to hold your laughter. 

 

JAKE ( _now human, to LAURENS_ ): 

I’ll help you get your sick friend up into the boat, sir. 

 

HAMILTON ( _weakly waving fist_ ): 

I’ll show you who’s sick if you get a little closer! 

 

LAURENS ( _to JAKE_ ): 

The offer is appreciated, but I’ve got him in hand. 

Let’s get on board and follow our General’s command. 

 

TOBIAS ( _in thought-speak, from across the river_ ): 

Jake? Rachel? Where did fourteen hundred go? 

Man, my Hork-Bajir morph doesn’t like this snow. 

Is that George Washington climbing in a boat? 

And I don’t recall ever rhyming when I spoke! 

 

RACHEL: 

The revolution’s gone weird. There’s rapping and diversity. 

Whatever we’ve done, the effects could be worse than we 

Thought it could be. Ax, do you have an explanation? 

I hope we haven’t screwed up the founding of our nation. 

 

AX: 

Our actions make changes, and as we continue them, 

Our travel deranges the space-time continuum. 

It could get stranger if we do not act. 

We must have the foresight our last foray lacked. 

I see soldiers here, alert, armed, and while 

They could be your nation’s, they sing a different style. 

 

CASSIE ( _in dolphin morph, swimming beside the boat_ ): 

I can’t believe there’s black and white soldiers together! 

Visser Four’s changes might be for the better. 

 

MARCO ( _over the side of the boat, to CASSIE_ ): 

I don’t want to spend all of history singing! 

 

( _LAURENS and HAMILTON give him odd looks._ ) 

 

CASSIE ( _in thought-speak, to MARCO_ ): 

Isn’t it worth it for this? We could ring in 

Doctor King’s dream of children, black and white – 

 

( _The soldiers on the other side of the river start firing on the boats._ ) 

 

LAURENS: 

The Hessians are alerted! They have us in their sights! 

 

HAMILTON: 

Where is the General? Tell me he’s all right! 

 

( _A bullet comes straight for JAKE’s forehead. Time slows. Nineties grunge guitar starts to play. MARCO sings in a sort of desperate snarl._ )

 

MARCO: 

Cassie and I swore we’d do anything, Jake. 

But there’s no time left to get in front of this bullet. 

This ain’t what I signed up for. It’s more’n I can take. 

I never learned how to make it without you. 

But this time, I’ll finish this. I’ll do it for your sake. 

I’ll tear hist’ry apart if that’s what it’s gonna take! 

 

( _The bullet hits. JAKE dies instantly. The guitar becomes distorted and frenetic. RACHEL half-sings, half-yells._ ) 

 

RACHEL: 

Hold the leash! 

Hold the leash! 

If Jake is dead, then there’s no one who can hold the leash! 

These soldiers don’t know what I’m gonna unleash. 

They killed your prince, Ax! Go attack the Hessians! 

We’re gonna teach them a lesson, 

Gonna teach them a lesson! 

 

( _The music cuts out. There is only the steady percussion of gunfire. Over that background beat, AX thought-speaks rhythmically._ ) 

 

AX: 

A lesson? 

If there’s lessons I learned from the stories I heard and the battles I fought and the way that they turned, I learned that a bullet must come from a gun in the hand of a man who might be as young as any of us, and he had been told by Visser Four, as he camped in the cold, that his enemies came to cut off his sleep with a deadly assault. In other words, he was just acting on orders, and I don’t believe I should act on orders that came from such grief. But I lost my prince and I cannot lose more, so I will advance and hope my attack does not ruin time even more than it has. 

 

( _AX attacks the Hessians. A new beat starts to throb, with a low sinister guitar line. Beneath the water, swimming through blood and corpses, CASSIE sings in thought-speech._ ) 

 

CASSIE: 

Life makes you think you could win 

Then throws you back in the shit 

I swore I’d hold onto him 

And now he’s floating away. 

 

This was a better history 

One where my folks could be free 

But then the bullets rained down 

And took him away from me. 

 

( _TOBIAS flies after AX. A moving piano line follows him on the wind.[His thought-speech song is soft and melodic](https://www.mediafire.com/?zy11dbegnhrxslv)._ ) 

 

TOBIAS: 

In the beginning, we were just six children 

Trying to help our families survive. 

But you, Jake, you found within yourself 

What you needed to keep all of us alive. 

 

And now you’re felled 

By a senseless bullet 

And I’ve never felt 

So lost in this world as I am right now. 

 

All I know 

Is who’s to blame 

And it’s not these soldiers 

It’s the powers who are playing this game. 

 

So overturn the chessboard, I won’t be your pawn. 

We can’t continue when our prince is gone. 

I am done, say farewell, 

Just release me from this hell! 

 

( _TOBIAS and the other Animorphs disappear from the battle without a trace._ )   

**Author's Note:**

> Hamilton and Laurens really were at the crossing of the Delaware, and Hamilton really was ill. I have no idea if Laurens was responsible for getting him across the river in one piece, but he was a good boyfriend and I bet he would have done.
> 
> Marco’s song is modeled after punk rock / grunge music like Matchbox Twenty, Ramones, and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
> 
> Rachel’s song is in the style of riot-grrl punk like Bikini Kill and Le Tigre.
> 
> Ax’s “song” is modeled after spoken word artists like Andrea Gibson, Carlos Andrés Gomez, and slam poets in general.
> 
> Cassie’s song is in the style of (who else?) Nice is Neat – more along the lines of “Hurt” than “Closer.”
> 
> Tobias’s song is after classic solo ballads from musicals, like “Far From the Home I Love” from Fiddler on the Roof or “What I Did For Love” from A Chorus Line


End file.
